Admission process of DU turns into a Blind Game in the CUET era

 CUET (Common University Entrance Test), conducted by the NTA (National Testing Agency), follows a transparent mechanism for testing and evaluating candidates seeking admission to undergraduate and postgraduate programs at Central Universities. However, the process that follows after the results are announced is completely non-transparent.

Before 2022, Delhi University followed a cut-off-based admission process that was entirely transparent. Anyone familiar with the publicly declared cut-off percentages could easily advise an aspirant on their chances of admission. In the new system, however, it is no longer possible to provide such guidance with any degree of confidence. The only suggestion that can be offered is to wait for the computer to generate a "favorable" outcome. In fact, there seems to be a widespread sense of uncertainty about how the process works. The most common response from a responsible authority is that everything is handled by a computer algorithm, which takes into account the candidate’s initial preferences entered at the time of form submission. This leaves little room for discussion or appeals, as the algorithm’s functioning is not disclosed publicly. As a result, successful candidates credit their "luck," while others are left confused and disheartened, unsure of what went wrong.

Compare this with the earlier scenario when the cut-off-based admission process was in place. At that time, reasonable advice could be offered based on previous years’ cut-off percentages and the last announced cut-off for the current year. In contrast, the introduction of CUET, essentially a Class XII-level re-exam, has added unnecessary complexity to the admission process.

The CBSE conducts examinations for nearly 800 subjects (source), while Delhi University offers around 550 undergraduate programs. Over the years, a well-accepted mapping between school subjects and university courses had naturally evolved. Unfortunately, CUET attempted to dismantle this framework in a single stroke. As expected, the system is still struggling to adapt to the resulting disruption.

CUET has since continued to revise its format each year, acknowledging the challenges that have kept on popping up by such an abrupt shift. There was no compelling reason to completely discard a well-functioning and widely accepted system that had taken decades to develop. It is true that the complete transparency of the earlier cut-off-based system was occasionally exploited by certain vested interests, who used to help their students by somehow giving high marks to them through generous marking. In 2022, such attempts crossed all reasonable limits when a particular board awarded 100 percent marks to an unreasonably large number of students. This single act subverted the DU admission process, as students from that board unrestrictedly dominated the admissions that year.

The response from university officials, however, was far from appropriate. The only necessary step was to rationalize the marks awarded by different boards. This could have been achieved using AI-based methods to analyze the marks secured by the students' across various boards. Alternatively, a single-paper common test assessing 'intelligence' or aptitude could have been conducted and used as a benchmark to normalize board marks.

With rationalization in place, the cut-off-based system could have continued as before. Such a straightforward solution would have ensured fair and proportionate representation of successful candidates from different boards, maintaining the same balance that existed at the applicant stage. On the other hand, the current admission process is, quite inexplicably, allowing over-admission in some colleges while leaving many others struggling to fill seats. Repeated delays in the announcement of CUET results, year after year, have only added to the overall confusion and lack of transparency. I have been writing to the DU authorities on this issue in the hope of a suitable action. Failing to see an appropriate response I have asked DU to provide the data of last year admission (through an RTI dated June 24, 2025) to ascertain and get convinced that my apprehensions are invalid.